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Editorial

Outreach helps schools

Interim superintendent is building bridges to improve district

Columbus schools interim Superintendent Dan Good

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Regular meetings between Mayor Michael B. Coleman and Columbus City Schools interim
Superintendent Dan Good are a welcome sign that two of the community’s top leaders are pulling
together on behalf of a public asset in dire need of support: the city schools.

Coleman’s inclination to stick with the leadership role he took on in January is encouraging,
and relatively novel. Ohio law separates the governance of school districts from that of cities,
villages and townships, and historically, Columbus mayors have had little role in schools.

But these aren’t ordinary times. The school district’s climb over the last decade in
state-report-card academic ratings has been modest at best, with the district stuck at a low “C”
rating and meeting only four of 26 state performance standards. And now, based on revelations of
data-manipulation that have emerged over a yearlong investigation, it seems even that apparent
progress may have been false.

The still-unfolding scandal, and former Superintendent Gene Harris’ and the Board of Education’s
failure to respond to it forthrightly, have diminished public confidence that the schools are
competently managed.

The city, by contrast, has been excellently managed and is thriving. That’s why Coleman’s
decision to create a Columbus Education Commission, and invite top civic and academic leaders to
participate, has been so valuable.

Good’s willingness to meet once a week with the mayor suggests he’s serious about making the
commission’s recommendations for improvement part of his goals for the district.

Their first meeting was on the day Good started in his new job.

Coleman is only one encouraging entry on Good’s appointment calendar; the interim superintendent
has met with a wide range of community leaders, including a coalition of local CEOs, state
Superintendent Richard Ross, leaders of the district’s major unions, Columbus Chamber President
Michael Dalby and Ohio State University interim President Joseph Alutto, who had been tapped to
take the temporary school-district helm until he got the call to fill in at OSU for the retiring E.
Gordon Gee.

Educating a community’s young people — preparing them for careers and/or college — is critical
to the success of any city, especially in an urban district. Cooperation between the public and
private sectors has been a hallmark of progress in Columbus; applying that principle to the school
district could yield results where there have been years of frustration.

Columbus is fortunate to have civic leaders willing and able to take on an often-thankless
task.